Caleb chuckled, then reached across Lauren to hold his hand near Molly. Molly gave him a cursory sniff, then lifted her head to rub against his hand a little, then went back to her ball of sleep. Caleb retracted to his side of the bed.
“I see what you did there,” said Lauren.
“What did I do?”
“You tried to get her to like you. Tested the waters a little.”
“Sure.”
“Youdolike cats.”
“It’s not that I dislike cats, it’s that I prefer dogs.”
Lauren rolled onto her side, careful not to disturb Molly, and faced Caleb. “I wonder what Molly would do if you brought Hank here.”
Caleb recoiled. “I don’t see that ending well. Molly doesn’t look very big, but I’ve seen tiny cats do a lot of damage.”
“Or they will be fast friends. Molly’s never met a dog, so I don’t know what she would do.” Molly didn’t get along well with other cats, but she might like different animals. “Do you remember, when we were kids, there was a movie with a kitten and a pug who were friends who went on adventures together?”
Caleb narrowed his eyes. “I have no recollection of that.”
“I can’t remember what it was called, but it was really cute. And the whole point of the movie was to show that even a cat and a dog can be friends. Like you and I having a civil conversation right now.”
“When I was a kid, we had a golden retriever named Floyd, who was about the sweetest dog I’ve ever known. We also had a couple of cats who moved into an old barn on my parents’ property. Both cats clearly had it out for poor Floyd. I wanted to bring the cats into the house, but in my one attempt, they tried to claw Floyd’s eyes out. So dogs and cats can be friends, sure, and I’ve seen that in my practice. But not always.”
“Your childhood trauma explains a lot.”
Caleb laughed. “I did build a nice home for the cats in the barn. My family wasn’t really using it for anything except storage, so I cleaned it up and put some pet beds in there and I brought food to them every day. So, see? I’m not evil.”
Lauren shot him a sultry grin and reached over to twirl a lock of his hair. “No, not evil. I think you’re a big softy on the inside. You love all animals, even cats. You’d have to, in order to be a good vet, and the rumor around the café is your patients like you. But don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”
“I appreciate that. Although…” Caleb shifted his weight and propped himself up on his elbows. “I’m coming to realize the divorce left me more jaded than I thought. I didn’t used to be as much of a dick as I’ve been lately.”
“Are you…apologizing?” Lauren put some mocking in her voice.
“Shut up. No, not really. Just… If you’d met me a year ago, you might have actually liked me. You’re right, I do love animals. I like taking care of them. I like the puzzle of diagnosing problems. A vet’s knowledge of medicine has to be even broader than a human doctor’s because anatomy varies so much between animals. I also have to have knowledge of what each species or breed’s common issues are. Like, rabbits have sensitive stomachs, bulldogs tend to have respiratory issues, beagles get epilepsy, cats get UTIs. That kind of thing. And I love all that stuff, love studying the whys and hows of it.” Caleb sighed. “I have to remind myself of that sometimes.”
“Why is that?”
“I think I’ve just been going through the motions since the divorce. I have always put distance between myself and my patients to an extent because getting attached just leads to heartbreak. But it’s like there’s a wall between me and the rest of the world. It’s one of my own making, no doubt, but… I guess I didn’t realize how much I was cutting myself off.”
Lauren didn’t want to cheapen the moment by making a joke, because she appreciated that Caleb was sharing this much of himself. She could hear the frustration in his voice. She slid a hand across his chest and gave him a little hug. When he sighed, she kissed him softly.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Be careful. You start talking about yourself in that way and I may start to like you.”
He lay back down on the back. “You’re a weirdo. I tell you I’ve become a jerk, and you’re like, ‘Mmm, give me more.’”
“No, what I heard you say is you’ve been a jerk, but you don’t want to be. You’re being smart and introspective. You went through something really difficult and you’re still dealing with the aftermath, but it sounds to me like you’re coming out the other side. I appreciate your honesty. It’s almost admirable.”
He cracked a smile. “Almost?”
“If I compliment you too much, it will just go to your head.”
He rolled his eyes. “Here I am, sharing with you, pouring my heart out, and you mock me?”
Lauren ran her hand across his strong chest. She kissed his chin. “I’m not mocking you. I’m…providing comic relief after a serious moment.”
